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With only a few weeks of experience in online MUN under our belts, MUN Impact’s MUN@Home program kicked off its second round of free online MUN mentorship for students all around the world. Driven simply by our passion and diligence, we held the first meet-and-greet a week into the program, gathering over 70 delegates, mentors, and directors–a meeting that wasn’t too late for the students in Taiwan, but wasn’t too early for Executive Director, Ms. Lisa Martin, in California. It’s a tough balance to strike.
With a better understanding of our delegates, a new team structure, and guided by our newly-appointed Secretary-General, Jaideep Singh, the MUN@Home team had gained some newfound confidence. We were only introducing ourselves, giving some background on the SDG targets that the delegates would be working on and discussing the delegates’ future assignments. However, the energy you could feel in the room (albeit a Zoom room) was evidence enough of the team’s development. That energy seemed to be contagious, as the delegates engaged by asking questions which the mentors were now able to answer with certainty, according to their experiences from the first round.
The highlight, however, had to be Mr. Natabara Rollosson speaking on how he reached his current position in the UN and his anecdote on directing Greta Thunberg to the right place at what might have been the wrong time after she had spoken to the UNGA. As is usually the case when young MUN enthusiasts get the chance to interact with an actual UN official, the delegates and mentors in the call were definitely awed and inspired. It was the perfect concluding note for the meeting and the perfect boost to kickstart the real work of the program.